Institutiones Rei Herbariae

By Josephi Pitton Tournefort

Paris, Typographia Regia, J. Anisson, 1700. First Edition. Quarto. 2 Volumes. Volume I: [xviii], 697pp. Index, Errata at rear. Volume II: [1], 250pp, [1]. Volume I is the Latin text volume and Volume II consists of the title page plus 250 engraved plates on 250 pages.

Period full calf embossed decorative covers with later full calf spines, gilt titles on spine on burgundy morocco tabs. Binding is strong with un-cracked and tight hinges. Both volumes are without foxing and very clean, evidence of ownership label removed inside front covers, 2 plates with embossed library stamp in wide boarder area.

— Nissen 1977.

The significance of Tournefort to eighteenth-century botany lies in his having classified all plants into genera. The Institutiones (1700) was in the main a translation of the Eléments de botanique into Latin; and the Corollarium Institutionum Rei Herbariae (1703) was a supplement written on his return from his travels into the Near East, describing 1350 genera which he had found there. The edition of 1719 is a reprint of these two works. This 2 volume set is the original 1700 set in Latin.